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Canada

Trudeau expected to announce temporary GST break on some items, NDP says
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce on Thursday a temporary GST break for certain essential items to help ease affordability pressures. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says in a statement that the announcement is in response to his party's demands to permanently lift the goods and services tax on a ...
3h ago
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Trump nominates former congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
WASHINGTON - U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has picked a former Michigan congressman as his upcoming administration's ambassador to Canada. Trump said in a statement that Pete Hoekstra would help him "once again put America first." Hoekstra thanked Trump on social media platform X, saying he was honoured f...
4h ago
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Investigation led to huge drug bust, which will disrupt Surrey drug trade, says RCMP
SURREY - Mounties in Surrey, B.C., say a year-long investigation has led to one of the largest drug seizures in the detachment's history and will "disrupt" the drug trade in the city. RCMP say they launched an investigation in June 2023 into a criminal group alleged to be involved in trafficking "high-po...
8h ago
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Coroner's inquest into 2016 death of Ottawa man hears from ex-cop involved in arrest
OTTAWA - A former police officer involved in the case of an Ottawa man who died after a violent arrest says the incident still affects him eight years later. A coroner's inquest into the July 2016 death of 38-year-old Abdirahman Abdi began earlier this week, with witnesses testifying today. Abdi died after police respo...
10h ago
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Canada

Montreal unveils 2025 budget with new spending for housing, homelessness
MONTREAL - The City of Montreal is promising to speed up construction permits, raise taxes on owners of vacant lots and spend tens of millions of dollars more to help develop affordable housing as part of its 2025 budget. The $7.28 billion budget unveiled today by Mayor Valérie Plante includes a promise to incre...
11h ago
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Young Quebecers care less than older people about being served in English: survey
MONTREAL - A new survey conducted for Quebec's language watchdog says young Quebecers are far less interested compared to older residents about being served in English in stores. In a report published this week, the watchdog says 41 per cent of customers between the ages of 18 and 34 reported feeling indifferent to bei...
11h ago
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Randy Boissonnault leaves Liberal cabinet, prime minister says
OTTAWA - Randy Boissonnault is leaving his post as employment minister in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet after weeks of questions about the Edmonton MP's past claims of Indigenous identity. Boissonnault has been under intense scrutiny after reporting from the National Post that raised questions about his past ...
11h ago
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Canadians favour government intervention in Canada Post, port labour disputes: poll
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests Canadians are supportive of government intervention in the labour disputes at ports and at Canada Post. Polling firm Leger found 63 per cent of respondents to a new survey were in favour of the Liberal government's move to step in and ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order a res...
11h ago
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Former PM Stephen Harper appointed to oversee Alberta's $160B AIMCo fund
EDMONTON - Former prime minister Stephen Harper is the new chairman of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation, or AIMCo, which oversees more than $160 billion in funds, including pension funds and the Heritage Savings Trust Fund. The move comes almost two weeks after the province's finance minister fired the Cro...
12h ago
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All premiers aligned on push for Canada to have bilateral trade deal with U.S.: Ford
TORONTO - Ontario Premier Doug Ford says all provincial and territorial premiers are aligned on his push for the federal government to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States. Ford, who is the current chair of the Council of the Federation, the group of Canada's 13 premiers, says they had a call today a...
12h ago
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Athabasca, Courage, Glacier or Pol-R? Canadian Space Agency seeks name for moon rover
LONGUEUIL, Que. - Canada's new lunar rover will head to the moon when it's built, but first it needs a name. The Canadian Space Agency has begun polling the public on four possible choices: Athabasca, Courage, Glacier or Pol-R. The rover, still in development, will be the first Canadian craft to explore the moon's surf...
13h ago
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Canada, U.S. close embassies to public in Ukraine due to threat of Russian strikes
OTTAWA - The Canadian and American embassies in Ukraine are closed to the public today after the U.S. warned of a "potential significant air attack" by Russia in Kyiv. Ukraine's intelligence agency posted a statement today accusing Russia of spreading fake messages about the threat of an "extremely massi...
13h ago
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Canadian among group pushing Vatican to adopt zero-tolerance policy for clergy abuse
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - An international group led by a Canadian is in Rome this week to push the Catholic Church to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for clergy abuse. Newfoundlander Gemma Hickey is the board president of non-profit Ending Clergy Abuse, which is advocating for the church to adopt widespread rules requiring any...
14h ago
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Victims' families barred from attending Bernardo's parole hearing in person: lawyer
A lawyer representing the families of two teenage girls murdered by notorious killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo says they have been denied the right to deliver their victim impact statements in person at Bernardo's upcoming parole hearing. In a letter sent to the Parole Board of Canada chairperson and others, lawy...
15h ago
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In the news today: More details emerge about fatal border crossing
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... More details emerge about fatal border crossing The trial of two men accused of human smuggling is expected to soon hear from a migrant who survived a long walk across the Canada-U. S. border in a blizzard. Steve Shand and Harshku...
21h ago
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Some Canadian cities building temporary housing facilities to accommodate refugees
OTTAWA - A significant increase in the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Canada has prompted some cities to start building temporary housing for new arrivals. The city of Ottawa is working to establish what's known as a sprung structure that serves as both a temporary shelter and a centre to provide settlement s...
22h ago
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'No disrespect to His Majesty': Yukon council refuses to take oath to King
DAWSON CITY, Y.T. - Governance in Yukon's second-largest municipality has been at a standstill since its newly elected mayor and council refused to pledge allegiance to King Charles during their swearing-in ceremony. Stephen Johnson, the mayor-elect of Dawson City, said he and the four-member council refused to take Ca...
22h ago
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Transgender community to gather in remembrance, opposition to Alberta legislation
EDMONTON - Adebayo Chris Katiiti, jailed for being a transgender man in Uganda, was brutally beaten as a child for wearing his brothers' clothes. He says moving to Alberta in 2016 saved his life. "I found home in Edmonton," said Katiiti, 29, a therapist and life coach who works with the LGBTQ+ community. &quo...
22h ago
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Urban salmon return to Metro Vancouver streams to spawn and inspire recovery efforts
BURNABY, B.C. - The metallic screech of a train rolling by. The constant hum of traffic on the nearby Trans-Canada Highway. These are the sounds of the Brunette River in the fall, as it cuts through the suburbs of Burnaby, B.C. And rising above the din of Metro Vancouver, the splashing of chum salmon as they push upstr...
22h ago
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Human smuggling trial could hear from survivor of frigid cross-border walk
FERGUS FALLS - The trial of two men accused of human smuggling is expected to soon hear from a migrant who survived a long walk across the Canada-U. S. border in a blizzard. Steve Shand and Harshkumar Patel are charged with organizing several illegal crossings, from Manitoba to Minnesota, of people from India. They hav...
22h ago
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Bomb cyclone batters B.C. with hurricane-force winds, cutting roads and power
VANCOUVER - Hurricane-force winds of up to 159 km/h have slammed into parts of the British Columbia Coast as a massive storm swirling off Vancouver Island severed highways and cut power to about 225,000 people. Winds from the bomb cyclone weather system were expected to reach 120 km/h on the central and north coast, al...
22h ago
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B.C. port union challenges constitutionality of labour minister's back-to-work order
VANCOUVER - The union representing port supervisors in British Columbia is formally challenging the legal and constitutional authority of the federal labour minister to order them back to work. In a legal document dated Tuesday, International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 says it's questioning whether the ord...
Nov 20, 2024
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Montreal mayor supports Polytechnique survivors' call for complete assault weapon ban
MONTREAL - Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is lending her support to a gun control advocacy group as it urges the federal government to complete a list of banned assault-style weapons before a federal buyback program comes into effect. PolySeSouvient, a group that represents survivors and families of the 1989 &Eac...
Nov 19, 2024
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NDP MP calls on Boissonnault to resign over false claims to Indigenous identity
OTTAWA - A Métis member of Parliament is calling on the employment minister to resign over what he calls harmful false claims to Indigenous ancestry. Randy Boissonnault, who had said his great-grandmother was a "full-blooded Cree woman," has also been described as Indigenous multiple times in communica...
Nov 19, 2024
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With Trump headed to White House, Canada has its eyes on Chinese investment in Mexico
OTTAWA - Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says she shares the "legitimate" concerns of U.S. officials about Mexico becoming a back door for China to wedge its way into the North American trading regime. Her comment comes the day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the issue with Mexican Presiden...
Nov 19, 2024
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Sex abuse case: Judge orders seizure of homes belonging to billionaire Robert Miller
MONTREAL - A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered the seizure of two Montreal-area residences belonging to billionaire Robert Miller, at the request of four women who have filed civil lawsuits alleging he sexually abused them as minors. Justice Serge Gaudet on Friday authorized the request for a seizure before judgm...
Nov 19, 2024
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Motion to declare homelessness state of emergency fails to pass at Montreal council
MONTREAL - Montreal's city council has voted down a motion brought by a pair of Independent city councillors seeking to have a state of emergency declared over the city's homelessness situation. Mayor Valérie Plante says councillors agree that the high number of unhoused people is an urgent concern but declaring...
Nov 19, 2024
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Quebec politician offers mea culpa for comments on racism in provincial legislature
MONTREAL - A Quebec legislature member says he doesn't think his colleagues at the national assembly are racist, as his party prepares to face criticism from all sides for controversial comments he made earlier this month. Haroum Bouazzi says he will remain a member of the left-leaning Québec solidaire caucus in...
Nov 19, 2024
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